Cibola Burn

  There is really nothing like reading “The Expanse”.  Fantasy has always been my favorite genre in part because good fantasy makes you feel like you're on a wonderful theme-park ride full of exhilarating moments that allow you to truly immerse yourself in the experience.  Prior to reading “The Expanse” series I had never found a sci-fi book that made me feel the same way, but this series is just so much fun.  The characters are enjoyable and complex.  The setting is well-designed and immersive.  And its big setpieces and moments are done just so well.  Last year I eagerly devoured the first three books in the series and I was very excited to read the fourth in anticipation of what would come next after Abaddon's Gate left off with a lot of interesting possibilities.  I am pleased to say that Cibola Burn manages to not only meet the expectations set by its predecessors, but exceed them.    Cibola Burn is like its predecessors in many ways.  It has a few holdovers from the previous books in Holden and his crew while introducing new characters that are relevant to the situation they find themselves in.  Things go really bad for a while before Holden is able to somehow save the day.  Along the way there is a ton of action, some really strong moments, some badass dialogue and a few moral questions are asked of the reader.  All of this is pretty simple but this series just makes these tropes WORK.  Is some of Holden's plot armor/competence/sheer luck bullshit? Absolutely, but I don't care because I want him and the crew of the Rocinante to succeed time and time again.  The book is also just super well-written.  It is a big book (almost 600 pages) and yet it paces itself in a way that allows tons of things to happen while also having these things mean something.  Some authors fall into the trap of having constant action without any moments where the story just breathes, but the authors behind “The Expanse” know how to make each moment count.  It's a genuine skill and I think it's a major reason why these books succeed the way they do.    While much of Cibola Burn's quality can be talked about in conjunction with its predecessors, it also has a number of strong attributes on its own.  The setting of New Terra is truly fantastic and feels like a new fantasy world.  It's the best ‘ground' setting in “The Expanse”.  It also features a number of strong characters that didn't exist in the first three books, namely Elvi and Murtry.  The reintroduction of Havelock was also a nice surprise.  I hope he kind of takes Miller's place now that Miller seems to be totally out of the picture.   All in all, Cibola Burn is a very worthy entry into “The Expanse” series.  Up next is Nemesis Games.  When I first started “The Expanse”, a common thing I heard was that the series didn't get really good until 4-5 books in.  Given how much I've liked the first four books, I'm sure Nemesis Games will blow my mind.